Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
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Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#2I personally use a related version of this, and it's a lot simpler. Cost per month.
The biggest factor in buying something for me is typically resale value vs what I pay for it. This is why I always buy the Amazon Marketplace Used items, or used items from local sellers, where available. This way, I mentally only consider the depreciation over the period of time I use the item as the cost. Usually, the depreciation is minimal over a short period, allowing me to buy stuff I don't need just to experiment with it (I keep a budget for this) Then I divide it by the number of months I'll have it， and then compare the value I get from it relative to eating lunch outside ($20), days of work, or something else like that.
I'm effectively leasing things to myself. I'll own nothing and be happier.
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#3A fine heuristic if you have enough money to make the choice in the first place.
[1]Sam Vimes’s ‘Boots’ Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness, propounded in Men at Arms:
"But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
Men at Arms"
[1] https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots...
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#4That's a solid plan.
I'd add in another factor: gratification.
This isn't for all items, but splurging on certain things because it gives you an emotional boost shouldn't be discounted.
After all, we only get a precious few trips around the sun...
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#5Cost/use really only works well for things where the results of use are broadly equivalent across price tiers. In the example given, expensive socks and cheap socks are basically the same when new (they'll keep your feet warm, padded, and wick away moisture), the only difference is how long that lasts.
For things like tools its often a bad metric unless you truly only need it once. In addition to durability; the ergonomics, cut quality, fidelity, trueness, etc will often be dramatically different across price ranges.
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#6I convert the cost into hours that I need to work. Do you want to trade weeks of your time on this planet for a doodad? Better have good value add.
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#7IMO if you primarily think in terms of cost per use, you're missing a big step in "financial maturity", because for expenses that are in the reasonable range, I think switching to evaluating based on their value to you is much more effective. Is the $8 Starbucks Frap worth the cost per use compared to a $2 drip coffee? Probably not, but it makes me happy, and the value on that is VERY high, and that value additionally rises proportionally as my income grows.
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#8I do this a lot for games, but cost per hour. Some games now are really expensive (£60 etc) but if I get 40 hours entertainment out of it then per hour that is actually pretty good.
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#9Cost/use really only works well for things where the results of use are broadly equivalent across price tiers. In the example given, expensive socks and cheap socks are basically the same when new (they'll keep your feet warm, padded, and wick away moisture), the only difference is how long that lasts. For things like tools its often a bad metric unless you truly only need it once. In addition to durability; the ergo…
And do they actually get job done... Hammer drills compared to impact drills...
Re: Whenever I buy things I try to prioritize cost per use
#10This really kicked in for me when I bought a grill.
The first time I used it, that cost me "1500". The second, it was just 750 per bbq. By the time I cooked a hundred meals on it, it is a 15 bucks per meal. Etc. Longevity is obviously a big factor too